Gauchos Play Last Out-of-State Contest of Regular Season
Currently mired in a five-game losing streak dating back to last season, the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball team concludes its Utah road swing on Monday, Nov. 28 at Weber State (1-2 overall). Tip-off in the Dee Events Center is slated for 7:00 p.m. MST/6:00 PST. It will be the Gauchos' final contest of the 2005-06 regular season played outside the state of California. With a victory, UCSB would snap its longest losing streak since 1992-93, when it dropped the first games of the year and also lost an NCAA Tournament contest the previous campaign for a string of seven straight setbacks.

Gauchos on the Air and Web
Monday's Gaucho-Wildcat clash will air live on KTMS 990AM in Santa Barbara with "Showtime" Steve Wendt calling the play-by-play and Ben Alkaly attempting color commentary. All of Santa Barbara's games in 2005-06 can also be heard live via the internet by pointing your browser to www.ucsbgauchos.com and purchasing the "UCSB All-Access Pass". In addition, a live video webcast of all the action from the Dee Events Center is available through a subscription service at www.weber.edu/athletics.

Santa Barbara Shooters Go Ice-Cold in 72-39 Drubbing at Hands of BYU
The Gauchos could not find their shooting touch Saturday in the Marriott Center, with the end result being a 72-39 loss to BYU (3-0) and Santa Barbara's lowest point total in over 15 years. UCSB built an early 8-5 advantage when Karena Bonds found fellow senior Autumn Nichols in the low-post for a layup, but that lead was quickly erased by back-to-back three-pointers by Ambrosia Anderson and Mallary Gillespie. That was just a preview of what was to follow from the Cougar duo, as Gillespie finished the opening period burying five-of-six shots from beyond the arc and Anderson scored nine of her game-high 21 points after the visitors had pulled within 46-35 with 14:30 remaining. The Gauchos tallied just four points the rest of the way and finished with a 24.1% field goal percentage.

UCSB Team Three-Dot Data...
The Gauchos' 39 points vs. BYU were their fewest since suffering a 78-33 loss at UNLV on February 17, 1990, while 33 was their widest margin of defeat since falling 107-74 at Arizona on Nov. 23, 1997...UCSB is averaging only 51.2 points during its current skid, while the last time Santa Barbara held below 60 points for five straight games was during the 1987-88 campaign...The Gauchos have been out-rebounded by double-figures in each game this season after ranking seventh nationally in rebounding margin last season at +7.1...The Gauchos lost the battle of the boards just five times in all of 2004-05, never by more than four...One positive in 2005-06 has been UCSB's turnover totals as the Gauchos have committed fewer miscues than each of their four opponents.

UCSB Player Three-Dot Data...
Sophomore center Jenna Green has paced the Santa Barbara offense in every game this year, while senior forward Autumn Nichols became the first Gaucho other than Green or junior guard Erin O'Bryan to score in double-figures with 10 points at BYU...Speaking of O'Bryan, she will sit out the Weber State game after suffering a mild head injury vs. the Cougars, while sophomore guard Ana Onaindia did not make the trip to Utah due to the same ailment...O'Bryan has made 13 of UCSB's 17 three-pointers on the season...On Saturday freshman forward Shantel Thomas played for the first time since the season-opener, following which she missed two games with a back ailment.

What About the Wildcats?
Excellent question...I'm glad I asked myself that. Weber State rebounded from a season-opening 55-48 loss at Southern Illinois by defeating Saint Louis 80-70 on the road on Nov. 21, but then dropped its home debut on Friday by a 78-65 margin to Air Force. Through three games, sophomore post player Tashina Taylor is the Wildcats' leading scorer at 15.0 points per tilt. Monday's showdown will be the historic first-ever meeting between the Gauchos and WSU.